Guy makes a YouTube video. VH1 uses his video without his permission on one of those dumb shows it does about “what’s hot on the Internet.” Guy makes a second video using the footage of VH1 using his video. VH1’s owner, Viacom, sends a notice of copyright infringement to YouTube, ordering them to take the second video down.

He puts it this way:

So Viacom took a video that I had made for non-profit purposes and without trying to acquire my permission, used it in a for-profit broadcast. And then when I made a YouTube clip of what they did with my material, they charged me with copyright infringement and had YouTube pull the clip.

As some of his commenters explain, there’s really nothing he can do. YouTube’s terms of service include the right for YouTube to license other producers to use YouTube videos for for-profit entertainment. But recording and posting the for-profit airing of your own video then violates Viacom’s copyright.

It would be interesting if the guy tried what some have suggested: Produce a journalistic video explaining what happened, as a warning to other people who may be using YouTube who are unaware that by using it, they’re granting YouTube permission to sell their videos. Then post it on YouTube, including a clip of the VH1 segment. As a private company, YouTube would be under no obligation to leave it up. But I’d think that kind of video would be fair use, and they couldn’t claim a copyright violation as the reason they’re taking it down.

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